MeltingMirror Cosplay

I had grand dreams of being ultra productive in 2020. I managed to crank out three new costumes for Katsucon in February (which is more than usual from me) so I was expecting to have many more completed costumes by the end of the year. Then the pandemic happened, I started working from home, and I figured, what a great time to get ahead on projects! I was going to produce the most costumes I ever. Well, it didn't work out that way. The only 3 costumes I finished were those 3 from Katsucon. I've been sporadically working on projects but never finishing them, and that's fine. Maybe I needed a break from the hustle. I think many cosplayers have felt the pressure to keep up and continue to push out new things on a regular basis. Every year when Katsu would roll around I would anticipate a friend of two burning out from the stress. Know that your health and mental well-being is a priority and if this year has shown us anything, it's that the costumes and conventions can wait. So instead I focused on creating content with costumes that I had in my closet. I finally put all my self-shooting equipment to use. I got to filming short videos and actually enjoying making Tiktoks (le gasp!). Long story short, do what makes you happy, even if that's relaxing on the couch and reliving your high school weeb days.

I love many things: I love Jojo, and I love being comfortable. So Rohan is my favourite costume of the year. It's rare I get to be conformable in costume and look this good. Having a character that is meant to have fun and interesting poses definitely helped me go out of my comfort zone in photoshoots. I just have to remember to channel that Jojo energy with my other costumes.

I don't know if I'll get miraculously more productive in 2021 but I hope to put a dent in my outstanding projects as usual. I don't foresee going to any conventions until maybe the end of the year, and even that is a stretch depending of how vaccinations go.

​I just know I miss my friends, and I want to travel the world once things are safer. I also want to go on more wilderness photoshoot adventures. Hopefully in warmer weather, since I'm always freezing on my wilderness shoots.

I hope you are all staying safe and hopefully I'll see you online and maybe at a convention next year or the following year, who knows.

No better way to start the weekend than an early morning flight and several flight delays. After 12 hours of airports, flights, and cabs I finally made it to the Gaylord. I got my badge, grabbed some food, and had some mild hangouts.

The Thursday night is getting busier and people start the party early on the gazebo level. I might have been up for it if I wasn't so exhausted.

I was supposed to wear Wooloo on Thursday, but I was too tired. So I wore it on Saturday. I realize that 2 costumes in a day is exhausting especially if the makeup is drastically different. 

On Friday I wore my new Cosmog ginjika. The headdress is nice and light and I love how the look came together. I found out later that the body jewelry was scrapping my shoulder and left a bunch of scratches. Oh well, the photos look nice and a lesson learned for next time.

I shot at the Voltaggio in the MGM with Paul Hiller and the blue colour scheme was a perfect match for this outfit.

After the shoot I ran back to the Gaylord to check out the Cosplay Met Gala. I missed the runway showcase but it was nice seeing all the costumes up close afterwards  and catching up with a few cosplayers from all over the country and abroad.

I checked out Anna Fischer's cool shooting setup on one of her beds in her room. It's impressive what you can do with some fabric and cheap lights.

I changed out of the costume for the rest of the day and just spent my time visiting friends,

At long last I cosplayed from JOJO. I wore Rohan for most of the day since it's such a comfy costume. I shot with Dangrr Doll at the lobby bar at the MGM. I can't wait to share those photos. I did a lot of unintentional core exercises posing for those pics.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon helping Dangrr and co setup a full flower arch and tea table set. It was beautiful. I also helped take pics of all the Fire Emblem characters - on everyone else's phones rather than my own.

I switched in Wooloo briefly to wander the con floor to see friends and snap some hall shots. I was in it for maybe 2 hours before I changed out of it. It's comfy but heavy and warm.

I wore Rohan again but with some different makekup. Gotta accentuate those Jojo lines. I shot with Elemental Photography this time around on the Gazebo level. Again I engaged my core for the shoot. I then helped out Elemental with lighting her shoot with Sarcasm-hime. I spent the rest of the day trying to see all the people I missed during the rest of the con.

The Sunday of Katsu is getting busier as well. Usually it would die down after 2pm but there were still lots of people around and at the Gazebo into the night.

It was my first time staying the Sunday night and I think I will keep doing that for future years. I also went to see Sonic with friends. Was it good? It was ok. Not worth the $20USD movie ticket though. I think I would have been satisfied with a non-HD viewing.

I've been going to Katsu for 7 years and this is the first year I actually got to see the city. We went to the museums at the Washington mall. The weather was great and the exhibits were fun. They were surprisingly dusty and especially crowded because it was a holiday.

I only run into slight delays getting home. I made it home after midnight and had work the next day. I do not recommend it. 

Overall Katsu was a blast and bringing comfier costumes made it more enjoyable.